1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to tile cutting equipment and, more particularly, to a set of boots for demountably mounting on the breaking wings of a conventional tile cutter in order to prevent scuffing, smudging, or scraping of the tile.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is generally well known in the art, a conventional tile cutter comprises a substantially flat cutting board on which two removable inserts or cushions formed of foam rubber or other soft, springy material are mounted on laterally opposed sides of an upstanding rib. A metallic cutting handle, the upper portion of which is formed as an elongated grip and the lower portion of which is formed as a cutting head, is mounted for sliding and pivoting movement on a stationary carrying bar which is supported in spaced relationship above the cutting board. The front portion of the cutting head carries a glass cutting wheel which is used to score the tile in a desired location, and the rear portion of the cutting head comprises a pair of breaking wings which extend laterally outwardly from opposite sides of the cutting head. To use the device, the operator places a tile on top of the cushions on the cutting board, and pivots the cutting handle so that the glass cutting wheel contacts the tile. He then pulls the handle slowly but firmly across the tile, creating a score line. Then, by pivoting the handle in the opposite direction so that the breaking wings bear down on, or strike the tile, he causes the tile to break cleanly along the score line.
One problem that occurs with tile cutters of this type, however, is that the metallic breaking wings tend to leave visible scuff marks or smudges on the surface of the tile. Such marks are extremely difficult to remove except by means of a special cleaning fluid which is commerically available but which is rather expensive to purchase and time-consuming to apply. Thus, some operators have tried to eliminate the problem by wrapping several layers of tape around the breaking wings. The tap serves to "soften" the impact of the wings against the tile, and prevent them from coming into direct contact with the tile thus leaving the tile surface unmarked. This arrangement is not entirely satisfactory, however, since the tape wears out rather rapidly and most be periodically replaced. The worn tape can be peeled off and replaced with new tape, of course, but this is a rather sloppy and tedious procedure.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a new and useful set of anti-scuff boots for tile cutting equipment which overcomes some of the shortcomings of the prior art.